Retired Ohio Auto Worker Charged 29,000 Times for Nazi War Crimes

To look at John Demjanjuk, you wouldn’t think that there was anything insidious hiding beneath his grandfatherly appearance. The 88-year-old is a retiree lives in a suburb of Cleveland and worked for years in the auto industry. It’s what he was alleged to have done during World War II, however, that has gotten Demjanjuk into trouble, as the octogenarian was charged with 29,000 counts of acting as an accessory to murder as a guard at a Nazi concentration camp in Poland.

A warrant by a court in Munich is seeking extradition or deportation from the United States, though Demjanjuk denies his involvement with the alleged crimes and his family claims that he is too sick to travel. The U.S. Justice Department, however, has noted that Demjanjuk can be deported for falsifying information on entry applications during the 1950s and the Supreme Court last year chose not to consider an appeal against extradition.

The Munich prosecutor’s office has noted that Demjanjuk was a guard at the Sobibor death camp in Poland and, "In this capacity, he participated in the accessory to murder of at least 29,000 people of the Jewish faith." Demjanjuk’s son, John Demjanjuk, Jr., has said, "Whatever the Germans decide to do, we will continue to fight for justice in this sad case as there has never been any credible evidence of his personal involvement in even one murder, let alone thousands. He has never hurt anyone — before, during or after the war. He is a good person as his family, grandchildren, friends and neighbors have always maintained."